Speed up Articulate Rise & Storyline courses.
Articulate Rise and Storyline are the most widely used corporate e-learning authoring tools. The catch: many courses ship with playback speed entirely disabled. There's no 1.5x button — just play, pause, and the next-slide arrow. PlayFaster restores speed control to any Articulate course.
Install PlayFaster — free
One click. No sign-up. Settings stay on your device.
Add to Chrome
Add to Firefox
Why don't Articulate courses have a speed control?
Articulate Rise and Storyline let the course author choose whether to expose playback speed. Most authors leave it off because instructional designers default to "watch as designed." The result: corporate compliance and onboarding courses you've already taken come without a way to fast-forward through the audio narration.
PlayFaster sidesteps the course UI entirely and applies your chosen rate at the browser level.
How PlayFaster adds speed control
Articulate courses are HTML5 packages. Audio narration plays through standard <audio> and <video> elements. PlayFaster overrides the playbackRate setter on HTMLMediaElement.prototype and applies your chosen rate to every media element on the page — even when the course UI offers no speed button.
// PlayFaster watches for new audio/video elements
// and applies your configured rate the moment they're added.
mediaElement.playbackRate = userRate // works even if course UI hides itPitch preservation is enforced — voices stay natural at 4x or 8x.
Step by step
- Install PlayFaster from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons.
- Open your Articulate course — usually launched from a corporate LMS or a shared link.
- Click the PlayFaster icon in your browser toolbar. Set your speed using the arrow buttons, the scroll wheel, or by typing a value directly.
- That's it. The narration and any embedded video play at your chosen speed.
Does it work with Storyline interactions?
Storyline courses often include branching logic, drag-and-drop interactions, click-through slides, and quizzes. PlayFaster speeds up the video and audio narration — the parts where time is mostly wasted on repeat content. Interactive elements still require your input at normal pace, which keeps your completion data and quiz scores honest.
Will the course author know?
PlayFaster operates entirely in your browser. xAPI / SCORM tracking continues to record completion and quiz outcomes based on your real interaction with the course. There is no PlayFaster signal in the LMS report — but if you skip past content you didn't absorb and fail a quiz, that result is your own.
Frequently asked questions
Is PlayFaster free?
Yes. Completely free, no account, no subscription. Settings stay on your device, and the extension contains no analytics or telemetry.
Does it work on courses delivered through Cornerstone, Workday, Litmos, etc.?
Yes. Articulate courses launched from any LMS still render as HTML5 in your browser. PlayFaster works regardless of which LMS hosts the launch link.
Can I slow down too?
Yes. The range is 0.1x to 42x — slow down for dense material, speed up for content you've seen before.
Will the audio sound distorted at high speeds?
No. PlayFaster enforces pitch preservation, so voices stay natural even at 4x or 8x.